Countries with Largest Nuclear Weapons in the World as Russia Threatens to Unleash Bombs on Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a warning to the West in a live televised address before the invasion of Ukraine, stating that anyone who interfered “will face the consequences greater than any you have faced in history”. 

Since the Second World War, no country has used nuclear weapons, when former US president Harry Truman dropped bombs on Japan at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. According to National World, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is an international agreement signed by 191 countries intended to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. 

 The agreement has three main parts: non-proliferation, disarmament, and the right to use nuclear energy peacefully. Only four nuclear-capital countries have not signed the NPT: Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea. North Korea originally signed the NPT but became the only country to ever withdraw from it in 2003. 

So, which nations have nuclear weapons?

1. Russia According to World Population Review, Russia has 6,257 nuclear weapons. Out of these, 1,458 are active, 3039 are available, while 1,760 have been retired. 

Over half of the world's nuclear weapons are owned by Russia. Russia possesses the second-largest fleet of ballistic missile submarines. 

2. United States of America The United States is one of the five recognised nuclear weapons states and nine countries to possess nuclear weapons. It has the world's second-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons after Russia. The United States also owns more than 40% of the world's 14,000 nuclear weapons. World Population Review indicate that the country has 5,550, out of which 1,389 are active, 2,361 are available, and 1,800 are retired. 

3. China China has 350 available nuclear weapons, actively expanding its nuclear arsenal. The Eastern Asian nation boasts the world's third-most powerful military, with the world's third-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. China has the second-biggest military reserve force, only behind North Korea. With nearly 2.2 million active troops, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the most significant standing military force globally.

4. France With 290 available nuclear weapons, French nuclear deterrence relies on complete independence. The current French nuclear force consists of four Triomphant class submarines equipped with submarine-launched ballistic missiles. In addition to the submarine fleet, it is estimated that France has about 60 ASMP medium-range air-to-ground missiles with nuclear warheads. According to Navy Recognition, the French Navy's Super Étendard Modernisé (SEM) attack aircraft operate from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. 

5. United Kingdom The United Kingdom has 225 nuclear weapons available at its disposal. The UK initiated its nuclear weapons programme during World War II, codenamed Tube Alloys. By 1952 it became the third country to develop and test nuclear weapons, after the US and the Soviet Union. At the Quebec Conference in August 1943, it was merged with the American Manhattan Project. 

6. Pakistan Pakistan began the development of nuclear weapons in January 1972 under former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. 

Bhutto delegated the program to the Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Munir Ahmad Khan, with a commitment to having the device ready by the end of 1976. Since PAEC, which consisted of over 20 laboratories and projects under reactor physicist Munir Ahmad Khan, was falling behind schedule and having considerable difficulty producing fissile material, Abdul Qadeer Khan, a metallurgist working on centrifuge enrichment for Urenco, joined the program at the behest of Bhutto administration by the end of 1974. To date, the country has an estimated 165 nuclear weapons available.

 7. India India has at least 156 available nuclear weapons, which are part of the weapons of mass destruction in nuclear and chemical weapons and currently possess nuclear weapons. Although India has not released any official statements about the size of its nuclear arsenal, recent estimates suggest that India has 160 nuclear weapons. It has reportedly produced enough weapons-grade plutonium for 161–200 nuclear weapons. 

In 1999, India was estimated to have 800 kilograms (1,800 lb) of separated reactor-grade plutonium, with a total amount of 8,300 kilograms (18,300 lb) of civilian plutonium, enough for approximately 1,000 nuclear weapons. 8. Israel Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons. Estimates of Israel's stockpile range between 80 and 400 nuclear warheads. The country is believed to possess the ability to deliver them in several methods, including by aircraft, as submarine-launched cruise missiles, and via the Jericho series of intermediate to intercontinental-range ballistic missiles. Its first deliverable nuclear weapon is thought to have been completed in late 1966 or early 1967, which would make it the sixth country in the world to have developed them. 

9. North Korea North Korea has a military nuclear weapons program and, as of early 2020, is estimated to have an arsenal of approximately 30 to 40 nuclear weapons. The nation has sufficient production of fissile material for six to seven nuclear weapons per year. 

North Korea has also stockpiled a significant quantity of chemical and biological weapons. In 2003, North Korea withdrew from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Since 2006, the country has been conducting a series of six nuclear tests at increasing levels of expertise, prompting the imposition of sanctions. Putin puts his military on high alert On Sunday,  ordered his Ministry of Defence to put nuclear deterrence forces on high alert days after the country invaded Ukraine. This came amidst ongoing war, which has killed dozens of citizens and displaced thousands from their homes. Putin said his decision on nuclear weapons was occasioned by the aggressive statements made by North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders and the economic sanctions against Moscow. The move will reportedly keep the West on heightened alert as it is the first time such a decree had been made during Putin's tenure. 

<<Please visit here for more hot news>>